This is as clueless as it is typical of Hillary Clinton, who never met anyone whose money she was unwilling to take and never understood the appearance of impropriety (cattle futures, anyone?). What the statement ignores, blatantly so, is that we are not simply talking about any foundation. This is money going to fatten the coffers and fund the lavish travel of a woman who wants to run for president.

Advertisement - Continue Reading Below

Holy hell. Cattle futures? Once again, the cocktail lounge at the Mena Airport is open for business. In support of her argument, she musters up harumphing from Larry (Will Pundit For Food) Sabato, and our old buddy from the Sensible Center, Ron Fournier.

Ron Fournier writes: "This is sleazy because of the clear conflicts of interest. What do these foreign countries expect in exchange for their donations? What pressure would Clinton face as president to return financial favors? Even if you give her the benefit of the doubt (having covered the Clinton since the 1980s, I'm still willing to do that), you can't deny that this flip-flop creates a perception of foreign favoritism in a political system that most Americans already think is corrupted by money." I'm not sure why she or any candidate gets the benefit of the doubt in situations like this, but his point is indisputable.

Most Popular

Jen, I would remind you, is as of yet undecided which of the virginal Republican campaigns, all of them untouched by the money of people who might want something later on, she will be supporting. In case she's missed it, Ms. Clinton's love of the big dough has been a subject of some concern among progressives as well, which is why people keep trying to knuckle Senator Professor Warren into a run. But it necessarily falls to us to point out that the reason we know who's been contributing to the Clinton Foundation is because the reports were open for the Wall Street Journal to examine them. But this is, again, the world that modern conservatism has made. It wasn't liberals -- or even the Clintons -- who turned the campaign finance system into the Wild Kingdom. We now know that Ms. Clinton and her husband raised money from some foreigners with some skeevy human-rights records. Hell, these are the guys to whom a lot of Republicans want to sell weaponry. It's a tough world these days. But Hillary's already in deep trouble. Jen Knows Politics.